US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Cuba would receive no more oil or money from Venezuela and suggested the communist-ruled island should reach a deal with Washington, increasing pressure on its historic enemy and prompting defiant words from the Cuban leadership.
Venezuela is Cuba’s largest oil supplier, but no shipments have left its ports for the island since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in early January amid a strict U.S. oil blockade on the OPEC country, according to shipping data.
Meanwhile, Caracas and Washington are advancing a $2 billion deal to supply up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to the US, the proceeds of which would be deposited in accounts overseen by the US Treasury, representing important evidence of the budding relationship between Trump and interim President Delcy Rodríguez.
“There will be NO MORE OIL OR MONEY FOR CUBA – ZERO! I strongly recommend that you make a deal, BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE,” Trump wrote Sunday on his Truth Social platform.
“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela,” Trump added.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel rejected Trump’s threat on social media, suggesting that the US did not have the moral authority to force Cuba to an agreement.
“Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign nation. Nobody dictates what we do,” Díaz-Canel said in
The US president did not provide details about the suggested agreement.
But Trump’s pressure on Cuba represents the latest escalation in his attempt to align regional powers with the United States and underscores the seriousness of his administration’s ambition to dominate the Western Hemisphere.
Trump’s top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have made no secret of their expectation that the recent US intervention in Venezuela could push Cuba over the edge.
U.S. officials have toughened their rhetoric against Cuba in recent weeks, although the two countries have been in conflict since the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro.
More context: The Cuban government ‘is very close’ to falling, Trump reiterates
Cuba defends its import rights
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said in another post on X on Sunday that Cuba has the right to import fuel from any supplier willing to export it. He also denied that Cuba has received financial or other type of “material” compensation in exchange for security services provided to any country.
Thirty-two members of Cuba’s armed forces and intelligence services died during the US incursion into Venezuela. Cuba said the deceased were responsible for “security and defense,” but did not offer details about the agreement between the two long-standing allies.
Cuba depends on imported crude oil and fuel, mainly from Venezuela, and to a lesser extent from Mexico, purchased on the open market to keep its power generators and vehicles running.
As its operational refining capacity has declined in recent years, Venezuela’s crude and fuel supplies to Cuba have fallen. But the South American country remains the largest supplier, with about 26,500 barrels a day exported last year, according to ship tracking data and internal documents from state-run PDVSA, covering about 50% of Cuba’s oil deficit.
Alberto Jiménez, a 45-year-old produce salesman in Havana, said Cuba would not back down from Trump’s threat.
“That doesn’t scare me. Not at all. The Cuban people are prepared for everything,” Jiménez said.
Many Cubans find it difficult to imagine a worse situation. The island’s government has struggled to maintain electricity. Most live without electricity for much of the day, and even the capital, Havana, has seen its economy affected by power outages lasting several hours.
The shortage of food, fuel and medicine has strained Cubans and caused a record exodus, mainly to the United States, in the last five years.
Find out: Sheinbaum affirms that Mexico did not increase its ‘historic’ fuel shipment to Cuba
Mexico becomes a key supplier
Mexico has emerged in recent weeks as a critical alternative supplier of oil to the island, although supply remains limited, according to shipping data.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said last week that her country had not increased supply volumes, but that, given recent political events in Venezuela, Mexico had become an “important supplier” of crude oil to Cuba.
U.S. intelligence has painted a bleak picture of Cuba’s economic and political situation, but its assessments offer no clear support for Trump’s prediction that the island is “ready to fall,” Reuters reported on Saturday, citing three people familiar with the confidential assessments.
The CIA believes that key sectors of the Cuban economy, such as agriculture and tourism, are severely affected by frequent blackouts, trade sanctions and other problems. The possible loss of oil imports and other support from Venezuela could make Díaz-Canel’s government even more difficult.
Maria Elena Sabina, a 58-year-old Havana resident and parking attendant born shortly after Castro came to power, said it was time for Cuban leaders to make changes in the face of so much suffering.
“There is no electricity here, there is no gas, not even liquefied gas. There is nothing here,” Sabina said. “So yes, change is needed, change is needed and fast.”
With information from Reuters.
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